The American people are worth fighting for. The future must be secured. I won't let you stand in the way of that... Once you're dead, we'll finish off this pathetic Brotherhood and become the true saviors of the Wasteland.

Born in 2222, Augustus Autumn spent his childhood on Control station Enclave. His father was a high ranking scientist in the organization, and became the de facto leader of its forces when the oil rig was destroyed by the Chosen One in 2242. Barely twenty years old at the time, Augustus joined his father's forces on their exodus eastwards. His father received orders from a new Enclave President, John Henry Eden, ordering the remnants to relocate to the Capital Wasteland. Settling into Raven Rock and Adams Air Force Base, the Enclave enjoyed peace and stability once more. Only Augustus' father knew that the president they were serving was in reality a sentient ZAX supercomputer. He kept that knowledge a secret, only sharing it with his son shortly before his death. Augustus succeeded his father as the right hand man of the President, though unlike his father, he was far less subservient and often disagreed with his apparent superior.[1]

As the human leader of the Enclave, Autumn was responsible for implementing the directives of the new commander-in-chief and overseeing the day-to-day operations of the organization in the Capital Wasteland, such as covert operations in the field or overseeing research initiatives and prioritizing projects being worked on.[2] Under his leadership, the Enclave would prepare for helping the people of the wasteland, rather than wiping them out. Fresh water, protection, and a solid plan for the future would convince the denizens of the Capital Wastes to rally under their banner.[3][4] After all, the American people were worth fighting for Autumn.[5] The covert nature of the Enclave's operations in the period before their re-emergence in 2277 made humanitarian efforts impossible, although Autumn's forces remained on the lookout. Although careful in conducting surface operations, Autumn's forces aided a wastelander on at least one occasion: Stiggs was recruited into their service, after he was found dying of hunger.[6][7]

The biggest obstacle in Autumn's way was Eden. Internal conflicts between the Colonel and the President[8] made the actions of the Enclave erratic and inconsistent. For example, while Eden sincerely desired a renewed attempt at genocide, Autumn considered this plan too extreme on humanitarian grounds.[9] Although Autumn managed to convince the AI to abandon the plan, the issue would remain an idee fixe of the President, who would attempt to go behind the Colonel's back in the end, by attempting to hire the Lone Wanderer to do his bidding.[10] Although confident the AI was under his control, Autumn realized Eden couldn't be trusted and kept an insurance policy in the form of its self-destruct code in his quarters. His reluctance to actually dismantle the AI would prove to be his undoing[11]

When Project Purity was reactivated by James, Autumn led the first Vertibird assault teams to arrive on site. His forces secured the perimeter and the Colonel confronted James in the facility's control room, requesting that the Project be put under Enclave control and supervision. When James refused, arguing that the project was a private initiative, Autumn shot Janice Kaplinski to coerce him. Furious, James pretended to activate the purifier, while overloading its core. The resulting burst of lethal radiation from the core killed everyone in the room except for the Colonel, who injected himself with a serum that prevented him from dying.[12] As he recovered, the Enclave deployed to the Capital Wasteland in force, establishing a network of constituency enforcement points. Under Eden's orders, the checkpoints performed compulsory genetic compliance screenings. Genetic non-compliance offenders were detained and executed.[13]Anna Holt, taken from the Purifier to Raven Rock, avoided this fate. Without Autumn's influence, Eden even mandated that Vault dwellers would have to be given amnesty first, before joining the Enclave.[14]

By the time the Lone Wanderer reached Vault 87, Autumn made a full recovery and focused once again on reactivating the Purifier. Rather than try and force entry into Vault 87, the Colonel laid a cunning trap for the Wanderer. When they exited with the GECK in town, Enclave troops ambushed and subdued them. The GECK was secure and all that Autumn needed for his plan was the access code to the Purifier.[15] The Colonel attempted to extract the code from the Wanderer, interrogating them at Raven Rock in person. Impatient for results, he was furious when the prisoner proved recalcitrant. Before he could take any action, though, he was recalled by Eden to the President's office. While the Colonel was away, the President released the Lone Wanderer. Autumn openly countermanded the President's orders and ordered his troops to shoot the Wanderer on sight. As the loyalty of human troops lay with the Colonel, rather than the unseen President, they obeyed. Eden wanted the Wanderer alive and set the automated defenses of Raven Rock loose on the defiant soldiers. With the base impossible to hold, Autumn ordered its immediate evacuation to Jefferson Memorial.[15]

Autumn realized that the only force capable of going toe to toe with the Enclave, despite its technological superiority, was Lyons' Brotherhood of Steel. The fortifications around the Purifier combined with Vertibird and artillery support would have been enough to repulse the chapter under normal conditions - but with Madison Li, they managed to reactivate Liberty Prime and deploy him in a direct assault on the Purifier. By the time it became apparent that the Memorial would fall, it was too late for the Colonel to evacuate to Adams AFB. Confident that reinforcements and a counter-strike would arrive in short order, Autumn made a final stand at the control room of the Purifier, confronting the Lone Wanderer and Sarah Lyons.[16]

The Waters of Life: The first encounter with the Colonel is in a non-interactive cutscene at the Project Purity control room. Autumn orders James to turn over control of the facility and when he, predictably, refuses, guns Janice down. Then James commits suicide, trying to take Autumn with him. The Colonel escapes death by injecting himself with a mysterious serum. Despite not killing James, he is blamed for his death.

Finding the Garden of Eden: He is encountered again at the end of the quest, as the Lone Wanderer is subdued. He orders them taken to Raven Rock.

The American Dream: The first interactive encounter with Autumn is during the interrogation. There are three options available, which lead to one of two outcomes:

Telling the Colonel the correct code will cause him to execute the player after confirming its validity (for some reason).

Lying about the code or insulting Autumn will infuriate him, but he will be recalled by the President. After the player's released, Autumn orders his soldiers to shoot the player, openly confronting the President.

References

↑Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.66: "Colonel Augustus AutumnAutumn grew up on an oil rig off the California coast (the base of operations for the Enclave, the secretive contingent of the United States government that survived after the apocalypse). His father was the high-ranking Enclave scientist on orders from the president to move all high-ranking officials to the only other secure Enclave location with a functioning ZAX super-computer, Raven Rock. Colonel Autumn has proven to be far less subservient than his scientist father, often openly disagreeing with the president's decisions."(Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition Wasteland Census)

↑The Lone Wanderer: "You've been helping them?!"Anna Holt: "Of course! You've seen the kind of technology these people have. They want to help people. They want to change the Wasteland. I couldn't pass up an opportunity to work in an environment like this."(Anna Holt's dialogue)

↑The Lone Wanderer: "Give it up, Autumn. You've lost."Augustus Autumn: "I beg to differ. The Enclave is at the height of its power. Once this facility is operational, the masses will flock to the Enclave for fresh water, protection, and a plan for the future."(Augustus Autumn's dialogue)

↑The Lone Wanderer: "Raven Rock is gone. Eden checked out. You've got nothing left."Augustus Autumn: "The American people are worth fighting for. The future must be secured. I won't let you stand in the way of that."(Augustus Autumn's dialogue)

↑The Lone Wanderer: "You're really helpful. Why should I trust you?"Stiggs: "I've been trying to get outa here for awhile. See, I've done things for the Enclave.... Things I can't say I'm proud of, but a man's gotta eat. When the Enclave picked me up, I was starving and suffering from radiation poisoning. I felt I owed them. But now... now it's time to leave. You'll make a great distraction while I make off with a few robots and supplies. I help you, and you help me."The Lone Wanderer: "What are you doing down here?"Stiggs: "I uh... work on the robots. I fix 'em up. I saw what you did before you got in the base. You're not going to hurt me are you?"(Stiggs' dialogue)

↑The Lone Wanderer: "If you want me to help you, why are your soldiers attacking me?"John Henry Eden: "Ah, yes. That is a bit of a problem. Colonel Autumn and I have, of late, disagreed on the best course of action for the Enclave. While I have direct control over the technology in Raven Rock, he has control of the human soldiers."(John Henry Eden's dialogue)

↑The Lone Wanderer: "Why do you want my help? Why not have Colonel Autumn help you?"John Henry Eden: "Ah, yes. Colonel Autumn. My trusted subordinate. I'm sure you've noticed that Colonel Autumn and I do not see eye-to-eye these days, figuratively speaking of course. The good Colonel and I disagree on how best to approach the problem of the Wasteland. He feels my methods are too extreme. He has allowed his humanity to cloud his objectivity. And now that he is publicly countermanding my orders, I can no longer rely on him. And so I turn to you. I hope that you are able to see the larger picture, to understand what's at stake. And of course, if you are successful, there is a place for you in the Enclave. Perhaps you could succeed the Colonel as my confidant."(John Henry Eden's dialogue)

↑The Lone Wanderer: "Eden betrayed you. You see this vial? He trusts me more than he trusts you."Augustus Autumn: "That's not true. That plan was abandoned months ago. He would never go behind my back!"(Augustus Autumn's dialogue)

Governmental codes are valid according to the Vault's ancient records, and The Enclave put forth an offer of amnesty and unity with the official remnants of the American government, in exchange for access to the Vault and its data stores. They claim that our Vault passwords no longer match their records, preventing them from extending their offer in person.

After brief negotiation, I have refused entrance to this "Enclave." I cannot trust my Vault and its inhabitants to an unknown factor, much less one that would so gallantly suggest abandoning our vault's great mission.

All the more reason to prevent the rebels from opening the Vault to the likes of them."

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